Matthew 6:10 - February 7, 2011

This, then, is how you should pay: “Our Father in heaven…”
Matthew 6:10

When one of Jesus’ disciples asked him to “teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1),
Jesus began to teach, saying, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our
Father in heaven…” Think about that for a minute. Jesus says, first, that
our prayer is directed to our Father and, second, that our Father is the
God of the universe (he resides in heaven). We are God’s children. We can
approach him as children approach their father. Have you ever seen a
father and his young daughter talking and goofing off? The daughter has
her father’s full attention, and he looks at her with gentleness, love and
grace. The young girl is embraced in the warmth of her father’s smile and
encouraged by the serenity and safety of her father’s tenderness. She
makes herself vulnerable, and that vulnerability is an incredible thing.
So it is with God and us. The great blessing of prayer is that we can come
to our Father in his grace and mercy extended to us in our Lord Jesus
Christ. Our great Father smiles upon his children. We can be vulnerable
with him, for he is a safe refuge. Our relationship with him makes us sing
along with Paul,

“Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph.
1:3).

Take time to contemplate just what it means to be called a child of God.
Think about the great love that the Father has for you to make you his
child, the sacrifice that it took in Jesus. “Behold, what manner of love
the Father has given unto us that we should be called the children of God”
(1 John 3:1). Thank God for this wonderful identity. Approach him early
and often. Come to your Father in heaven as often as you can. And, come
with vulnerability, pouring your heart out to him.

CHD

Relevant Bible Passages:

John 1:1-18
John 15:1-17
Romans 8:1-17
Ephesians 1:3-14